The present invention relates to a system for checking out goods or merchandise in a supermarket or like business entity without the aid or benefit of a cashier or checkout clerk.
As prior art of the cashierless checkout system, there has been proposed an invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 119042/84, which is a patent application submitted from Omron Tateisi Electronics Co., under the name of R. Koji, entitled "Self Checkout Gate". This patent application discloses a checkout gate comprising a scanning unit which permits the customers to scan their purchased goods, a purchased goods bin into which the purchased goods are deposited, a money settling device through which the customers pay money for their purchased goods, and a shutter section adapted to open a shutter of an outlet of the purchased goods bin at the completion of the payment of money to permit the customers to take out their purchased goods.
One drawback of the above-mentioned prior art is that the customers can not take out their purchased goods for a period of time even though they have paid the money for such goods. The shutter section of this checkout operation takes a lot of time and causes a jammed condition at the checkout gate. An alternative proposal has been made wherein such jamming at the checkout gate or other time-consuming operations are relieved by separating the entry of purchased goods from the money receiving operation. However, even in this latter proposal, the separation of the purchased goods entry from the money receiving operation causes another problem in that the amount of money received is not always assured or correct.
Additional documentation in the area of automated checkout systems includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,519,993, issued to K. Sakai et al. on July 7, 1970, which discloses an automatic ticket gate providing for bidirectional passage and includes entrance and exit ticket slots, a ticket reader, and a passenger direction detection circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,625, issued to Y. Mizuta et al. on Sept. 29, 1970, discloses an automatic ticket gate for receiving a plurality of tickets in rapid succession, for examination of the tickets with respect to validity and for returning the tickets to the owners.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,932, issued to T. Morita on Feb. 2, 1971, discloses an automatic ticket examining system and gate control system including a plurality of ticket gates wherein at least one gate performs all the functions of a complete gate, that is, receiving a ticket, checking its validity, opening or closing the gateway, and returning or collecting the ticket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,206, issued to K. Osaki et al. on July 4, 1972, discloses an automatic ticket gate wherein information on a ticket is read and depending upon whether the information is valid or not, allows or disallows the ticket owner to pass through the gate, such gate permitting a predetermined number of misreadings of the ticket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,697, issued to S. M. Weir on Feb. 13, 1973, discloses an automatic marketing system wherein display scales are provided with means for sensing the weight of articles therein, while card readers are associated with the scales to identify customers selecting the articles. Data processing equipment provides the customer with a printout of the articles and the cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,933, issued to T. Tanaka et al. on Feb. 3, 1976, discloses an automatic article vending machine that uses a card having a predetermined monetary value which is decreased by the value of the article purchased with the card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,213, issued to Y. Nakamura on Jan. 10, 1978, discloses a merchandise checkout system including a credit card reader operated by the customer. The credit card is encoded with an amount of money and a result is displayed and printed on a receipt and journal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,677, issued to H. S. Sarwin on June 4, 1985, discloses a product control system for a supermarket which includes a bar code reader at the checkout terminal for reading bar codes that are displayed on the various shelves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,083, issued to J. J. on Apr. 15, 1986, discloses a checkout s including means through which a shopper must pass for dispossessing the shopper of items for purchase, sensing means for detecting the items, cashier stations separated from the sensing means for printing the cost of the items and for receiving payment for the items, and a pickup area where the shopper picks up the items.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,619, issued to R. A. Fry on Apr. 22, 1986, discloses an automatic gate for a checkout lane which is controlled by the cash register lock key.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,343, issued to D. R. Humble et al. on June 30, 1987, discloses a self-service distribution system that includes a laser scanner for reading UPC labels on products presented to the scanner by the customer. The products go through a tunnel and are weighed to provide a printed list and a price to the customer who then pays the cashier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,154, issued to D.M. Blanford on July 7, 1987, discloses a scanning control system for merchandise checkout that includes a scanning assembly, a display, a processor and a data terminal device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,357, issued to S. Douno et al. on Aug. 11, 1987, discloses a method for confirming settled check cards and check card drawing apparatus which may be used to cash a check or to deposit in an account. The check card can be used with an automated teller machine (ATM) or with an on-line teller machine (OTM).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,575, issued to J. W. Sloan on Mar. 15, 1988, discloses a prepayment metering system using encoded purchase cards which the customer inserts into a card reader on the premises. The card reader is coupled to a processor based control device which records the amount and the rate of usage along with the customer account number.
And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,782, issued to B. M. Mergenthaler et al. on Oct. 4, 1988, discloses a checkout system including a scanner, display means, a keyboard, a card reader, and processing means enabling the customer to finalize and pay for the items.